In the year 2024, a relevant event occurred in the context of the war in Ukraine. So the number of drones produced for military use far surpassed to that of traditional armored vehicles, with tens of thousands of units deployed on the front. That change not only reflected a question of cost, but a profound transformation in how a modern war is conceived and fought today. One where humans have less and less to say.
Forbidden to humans. In Ukraine, a new type of battlefield has emerged that breaks with everything known: the called “kill zones”those strips of several kilometers where any movement is detected and destroyed almost instantly by swarms of drones.
In these spaces, human presence has become extremely limited and dangerous, almost inaccessible, forcing soldiers to remain buried for weeks or months and move alone in exceptional conditionswhile the terrain between the lines becomes a kind of permanent “no man’s land”, one saturated with sensors, mines and constant surveillance. If in the 19th century battles and quarrels were fought with steps and guns in duels in the sunTwo centuries later, duels have mutated into disputes between machines.
Wars without troops. I remembered a few weeks ago the financial times that, in this new environment, direct combat between people has ceased to be the central element, replaced by confrontations where machines take center stage.
Aerial drones patrol, detect and attack targets continuously, while unmanned ground vehicles advance, hold positions or execute ambushes in places where an infantryman I couldn’t survive. There have even been documented situations in which systems from both sides confront each other without direct human presenceevidencing a qualitative change in the nature of combat.
Robots against robots. The most striking result is the appearance of authentic “duels” between unmanned systems, where UAVs and UGVs search, hunt and they destroy each other. Drones waiting on the ground like smart mines, vehicles that ambush routes supply or systems specifically designed to locate and neutralize other robots reflect an autonomous combat dynamic in constant evolution.
Thus, each advance generates an immediate response from the adversary, creating a cycle accelerated innovation which is more reminiscent of a technological ecosystem or a futuristic war video game than a conventional war.
Fully automated logistics. Even tasks that historically defined the rear, such as supplies, evacuation or minelaying, have been absorbed and replaced by machines. Now drones transport food, water and ammunition, while ground vehicles extract wounded people or deploy explosives in inaccessible areas.
This change, furthermore, is not only tactical, but rather structural, because the battlefield seems not to admit The human presence continues, forcing a kind of outsourcing of essential functions to systems that can take risks that no soldier could accept.
The leap to self-employment. They explained in Forbes that, although many of these systems continue to depend on human operators, the trend points towards a increasing autonomywith robots increasingly capable of detecting, deciding and acting with less intervention.
If you also want, the integration of artificial intelligence, advanced sensors and coordination in swarms anticipates a scenario where hundreds of systems operate simultaneously in air, land and sea, further expanding these inaccessible areas and reducing the room for human maneuver.
The future in real time. In summary, what is happening in Ukraine It is not only an adaptation to the current conflict, but it could be said that it is a preview of what they will be like. the wars of the future. The unprecedented combination of total surveillance, combat automation and progressive replacement of the soldier in the most dangerous areas is transforming war in an unprecedented confrontation between systemsone where humans are relegated to supervision and strategic decision-making.
From that perspective, rather than a gradual evolution, the conflict in Eastern Europe has suddenly accelerated a transition that seemed very distant a few years ago, turning science fiction into something similar to an operational reality.
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